LONDON , England -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- I have a confession . As a music style , heavy metal has completely passed me by . I do n't understand it . I 'm not even sure I want to . `` Bring your daughter to the slaughter , '' bellows Iron Maiden 's Bruce Dickinson . Why would I want to do that ? Why would I want to listen to anyone even suggesting I do that ?

Outside The Crobar in London 's Soho our intrepid reporter tries out her rock moves .

While the thought of spending the evening head banging leaves me longing for an expensive glass of merlot , slightly fruity , and perhaps a long sit down , I ca n't escape the feeling that I 'm somehow missing out .

As a child of the 70s , how could I have missed the birth of a wildly popular new music genre right in the next decade ? Even at the end of the 80s , when Iron Maiden was releasing its `` First Ten Years '' compilation of greatest hits , I would have been sixteen -LRB- or thereabouts -RRB- , the perfect age to fall for the charms of a long-haired , rebellious rocker in tight leather pants . You 'd think .

There 's only one thing for it -- a crash course in all things metal with the man who knows , self-confessed metalhead Malcolm Dome , who also presents the chart show for 24-hour UK rock and metal radio station TotalRock .

I meet him at the TotalRock studios in Central London . The stairs are scuffed . It smells of stale sweat . I 'm pleased to see Malcolm is wearing the traditional heavy metal attire of black T-shirt and black jeans . Obviously I 'm going to have to go and buy a T-shirt , perhaps one with a skull on it .

`` You can wear anything you want , '' Malcolm assures me . `` You 'd probably be surprised how many heavy metal fans there are who have very high-powered business jobs -- even members of parliament who are into metal . They ca n't go around dressed as I 'm necessarily dressed now all the time because it does n't fit into their jobs . ''

Fortunately for Malcolm , his job as heavy metal journalist and broadcaster almost requires him to look the part . He 's been involved in the scene since the late 1960s , when he fell for a young heavy metal group called Black Sabbath .

His main allegiance later shifted to Led Zeppelin , but when it comes to music styles he 's not fussy . `` I 've got eclectic tastes , '' he says . `` I 'm happy to listen to Frank Sinatra , listen to AC-DC , to all sorts . ''

Finally , we 've found some common ground . If there 's anyone who can convince me of the joys of heavy metal , it 's someone who also appreciates the soothing , melodic tones of Sinatra .

I 've heard someone compare heavy metal to pantomime , I say . Surely that ca n't be true ?

`` It 's absolutely panto , '' Malcolm enthuses , adding `` Sammy Goldwyn said that any film should start with a climax and build it from there . And that 's what metal does . It starts with a big , big stage show and builds it from there . Of course it 's panto . It 's ` he 's behind you ' , it 's the whole larger than life character , it 's circus , it 's frivolity . ''

He hastens to add that a lot of time and effort goes into staging the shows , and from that perspective , it 's completely serious . The problem with heavy metal , Malcolm says , is that the mainstream media misrepresented it for years .

`` Every time the mainstream media used to cover it in the 70s and 80s , it was done from the point of view that ` this is weird , we do n't understand it , we 're going to go away not understanding it but we 're going to present it to you anyway , ' '' he says .

Heavy metal was painted as the dark preserve of working class men who wore denim and leather and were , for the most part , sexist . That 's even before you take into account accusations of devil worship and Satanism leveled at the genre by Christian activists in the 80s .

`` You can understand people actually seeing what was being presented to them thinking ' I do n't get it and I do n't want to get it , ' '' Malcolm says . Now many more people `` get it . '' Some 30,000 people listen to TotalRock each week , many of them women .

`` It 's ended up being I think a music that attracts if not fifty percent female fans then certainly a very big minority . The fact is metal has never tried to exclude women . ''

So what of lyrics like `` bring your daughter to the slaughter '' ?

'' ` Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter ' was actually written for a movie , '' Malcolm explains , `` One of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies . However , it is not about killing people . Slaughter was a metaphor for the party . So it was actually a fun representation . Metal has never openly espoused violence towards anybody . ''

It should be stated here that there are varying degrees of heavy metal , from the hair metal of carefully-coifured Jon Bon Jovi to the black art of New York doom metal band Unearthly Trance .

`` What makes Unearthly Trance so heavy is that they literally make your bowels rumble , '' Malcolm says . `` They are so intense . But it 's also hypnotic . And strangely soothing , '' he adds .

Dozens of sub-categories of metal have evolved to include black metal , stoner metal , thrash metal , power metal , goth metal , death metal and grind core , to name a few .

What binds them all is a fierce dedication to the style of music and an admirable loyalty to their chosen bands . There seems to be none of the fickleness associated with the pop world where young performers are routinely thrown on the scrapheap after a few hits -- or flops .

As Malcolm says , it 's not unusual for bands to have a career that spans decades . Iron Maiden has been going for almost 30 years . Black Sabbath for even longer .

So is there any age when heavy metal fans should retire gracefully from the scene ?

`` Absolutely not , no , no , no , '' Malcolm says , looking slightly shocked . `` If you love it and enjoy it why should you have give it up because you reach a certain age ? Definitely not . Metal is ageless . ''

It 's not too late for me then . What a relief .

@highlight

Malcolm Dome of TotalRock conveys the joys of metal to the unconverted

@highlight

Heavy metal concerts likened to panto , `` it 's circus , it 's frivolity , '' Dome says

@highlight

Metal ` uniform ' of black t-shirt , jeans and leather apparently unnecessary

@highlight

Metalheads display fierce loyalty to their bands , unlike fickle world of pop